New Delhi, A group of former bureaucrats and diplomats have come down heavily on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over the Bulandshahr mob violence which they said showed “perverted” fundamental principles of governance and constitutional ethics of the BJP government in the state and slammed the “stony silence” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue.

“The mob violence in Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh on Dec 3, 2018, instigated and engineered with malicious intent, led to the cold-blooded murder of a police officer brave enough to step forward single-handedly to pacify the mob, marks the most dangerous turn yet in the direction taken by the politics of hate in recent times.

“It shows that in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, fundamental principles of governance, of constitutional ethics and of humane social conduct stand perverted. The Chief Minister of the state acts as high priest of the agenda of bigotry and majoritarian supremacy — an agenda which now seems to take precedence over everything else,” they said in an open letter. 

The 83 signatories to the letter — including former Foreign Secretaries Shiv Shankar Menon (who was also National Security Adviser), Shayam Saran and Sujata Singh, former Ambassador and DGP Julio Ribeiro, former Special Secretary Vappala Balakrishnan, former Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, Harsh Mander and Jawahar Sircar — said in the letter that it was a measure of rapid erosion of constitutional values that they as a group had felt a compelling need to speak out about as many as nine times in the last 18 months. 

“The pace of erosion has been frightening and with each slip, we seem to sink further into a lawless abyss,” they said. 

The Bulandshahr episode, which followed a succession of events aimed at isolating and intimidating Muslim community in Uttar Pradesh, showed that under Yogi Adityanath, hooliganism and thuggery have been mainstreamed into governance, not just to intimidate minorities but to teach a lesson to anyone, including police personnel and others in the administration, who dared to be even-handed in their approach to minority communities. 

They said there was no doubt that there was nothing spontaneous about the violence that led to the killing of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, nor was there any doubt as to who the political elements were that aided and abetted the violence. 

“This was a deliberate attempt to display majoritarian muscle and send a message to Muslim communities living in the region that they have to live in fear, accept their subordinate status and conform to the cultural diktats of the majority community.”

The Chief Minister refused to acknowledge the gravity of the incident and its communal intent, condemn the perpetrators of violence or direct the police to take action against them, and instead asked them to focus attention on those responsible for illegal cow slaughter, the former bureaucrats said.

“The police authorities draw an equivalence between the killing of a police officer and the illegal slaughter of cows and claim that unless both crimes are investigated together, it will not be possible to come to any conclusions about the violence of the mob and murder of a colleague,” they said. 

Turning their attention to Modi, the former civil servants said: “Our Prime Minister, who is so voluble in his election campaigns and who never tires of telling us how the Constitution of India is the only holy book he worships, maintains a stony silence even as he sees a Chief Minister handpicked by him treat the same Constitution with sheer contempt. 

“It is evident that for the Sangh Parivar, constitutional morality is of no value, and is necessarily subordinate to the ideals of majoritarian supremacy.”

They asserted that never before in recent history had the politics of hate, division and exclusion been so dominant and the poisonous ideology, which had penetrated deep into the body politic.

“This is a crucial moment and we can’t take it lying down anymore. We call upon all citizens to unite in a crusade against the politics of hate and division — a politics which aims to destroy the fundamental principles on which our republic is founded.” 

They urged the citizens to demand the resignation of Yogi Adityanath for his failure to abide by the Constitution to which he has sworn his allegiance and to remind the Chief Secretary, DGP, Home Secretary and all other members of high civil services concern of their constitutional duty to fearlessly implement the rule of law rather than to perverse diktats of their political masters.

They also urged the Allahabad High Court to take suo motu cognisance of the Bulandshahr incident and order a judicial inquiry supervised by them to uncover the true facts, expose the political collusion, fix responsibility and recommend action. 

Gurugram,The contractor and officials of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) have been booked in connection with the falling off of a portion of the Rampura flyover on the Delhi-Jaipur national highway on Monday, police said on Wednesday.

The case was registered on the complaint of a group of Right to Information (RTI) activists including Ramesh Yadav, Baldev Mehra, Omprakash Kataria and others.

“The nexus of contractor and NHAI officials used poor construction materials intentionally to dupe public money that caused the flyover to break off,” the complaint read. 

The accused have been booked under Section 336 (endangering life or personal safety of others) and Section 34 (common intent) of the Indian Penal Code at Kherki Daula Police Station, Yadav told IANS.

About a six square feet portion of the flyover in Haryana fell off on December 17. The flyover is nearly 46 km from Delhi.

“The affected portion of the expressway has been cordoned off and is being repaired. It would take at least ten more days to make it fully functional,” an official said.

“Light traffic is passing on the elevated road using the two lanes. Traffic passing under the affected flyover has been completely stopped as repair work by NHAI is in progress,” chief of Manesar traffic police station Munesh Kumar said.

The flyover was opened for traffic nearly two years ago. A portion of another flyover near Manesar and Hero Honda Chowk had fallen down earlier in 2018.

Panaji, Ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is being projected as a ‘He-Man or Superman’ by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and made to pose in staged photo-shoots, the Congress said on Wednesday, chiding the former Defence Minister for skipping the 57th Goa Liberation Day Parade.

“The BJP is only indulging in staged photo sessions and they are projecting the CM of Goa as a ‘He-Man or Superman’. Parrikar had the time and fitness to inspect an under-construction bridge with doctors alongside him, but could not be present to hoist the tricolour on Goa Liberation Day. That is a really sad state of affairs,” Congress spokesperson Urfan Mulla told reporters on Wednesday.

The Congress on Monday had dared the 63-year-old Chief Minister to hoist the national flag on the occasion of the state Liberation Day, a day after Parrikar on Sunday made his first public appearance in nearly two months, when he, accompanied by a medical team, inspected an under-construction bridge near Panaji.

Parrikar’s public appearance on Sunday comes at a time when the Panaji Bench of the Bombay High Court is due to pronounce its order on a petition which seeks making the health status of the ailing Chief Minister public.

Parrikar is suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer and has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New York and Delhi for nearly nine months. The Opposition has demanded Parrikar’s resignation on account of his prolonged ill-health.

Earlier at the Liberation Day parade on Wednesday, Speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly Pramod Sawant stood in for Parrikar.

“Goa CM Manohar Parrikar could not attend the assembly because of health issues. Therefore I am reading his speech in his absence,” Sawant said.

The Speaker also extolled freedom fighters who had to struggle and, in some cases, pay with their life for liberating Goa from the Portuguese. He also expressed his indebtedness to the Indian armed forces for liberating Goa.

“Indian freedom struggle was incomplete until Goa was eventually freed from 450 years of oppressive Portuguese rule. Portugal used religion to divide and rule to retain power in Goa,” Sawant said, while extolling the achievements of the state in the fields of health, education, infrastructure, since liberation.

Sawant also encouraged Goans to make the state plastic and garbage free.

Belagavi  Ahead of the cabinet expansion of the coalition government in the state on December 22, several party legislators are lobbying for their inclusion with party’s leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, said an official.

“Many legislators, including senior leaders have urged Siddaramaiah to recommend them to the party high command for the six cabinet posts vacant from the party’s quota in the 6-month-old JD(S)-Congress government,” a party official told IANS here on Tuesday.

As Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader, Siddaramaiah discussed the cabinet expansion and appointment of chairmen of boards and corporations with about 70 legislators on short-listing some of them for approval by party President Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on December 21.

“Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara of the Congress will submit the list of names finalised at the CLP meeting to ensure regional balance and fair representation of them region and caste wise,” said the official from the state’s northwest city, about 500km northwest of Bengaluru.

Among the senior legislators – HK Patil, MB Patil, Ramalinga Reddy and Roshan Baig were left out of the cabinet, formed in June after two parties forged an alliance following a hung verdict in the May 12 Assembly elections.

In the 34-member ministry, the Congress made 15 of its 80 legislators cabinet ministers while the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) filled 9 out of 11 posts as part of its quota.

“As all the legislators, including seniors cannot be accommodated in the ministry due to the 34-member limit, some of them have been shortlisted for posts of state-run boards and corporations.

As per the worked-out formula, the Congress is entitled to 20 of the 30 state-run boards and corporations and JD-S the remaining 10 posts.

The cabinet expansion is slated to take place in Bengaluru after the 10-day winter session of the state legislature concludes on Friday here.

“Heads of boards and corporations will be named after the cabinet expansion,” added the official.

Mumbai, Veteran actress and wife of Dilip Kumar, Saira Banu, hopes that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will stick to his promise with regard to resolving a property dispute with builder Samir Bhojwani.

Interacting with mediapersons here on Tuesday, Saira Banu said she had sought a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was here on Tuesday to discuss the issue following the builder’s release from jail.

Bhojwani had falsely claimed ownership of the two plots on which Kumar’s bungalow is built. The 96-year-old actor’s bungalow is located in the upscale Pali Hill area of suburban Bandra.

Saira Banu’s request for a meeting with PM was shared on Dilip Kumar’s official Twitter account. “Request from Saira Banu Khan: The Hon’ble @PMOIndia Shri @narendramodi Sir, Land Mafia Samir Bhojwani released from jail. No action taken despite assurances by CM @Dev_Fadnavis. Padma Vibhushit betrayed, threatened by money and muscle power. Request meeting with you in #Mumbai,” the tweet read.

Banu had also tagged Fadnavis in her tweet. 

When asked about the star couple’s apprehension following Bhojwani’s release, Fadnavis told the media that he will speak to them and try to sort out the issue.

According to Saira Banu, Prime Minister Modi has directed Fadnavis to study and sort out the issue as soon as possible.

“We are hopeful that the Prime Minister will look into the matter and I hope our kind Chief Minister will also look into it and take due action. For the last three months, the CM has been promising me that he will talk to Bhojwani and resolve the issue. I hope he will stick to his words and do the needful.”

Giving details about the dispute, Saira Banu said: “We have been facing this court dispute and harassment by Samir Bhojwani for the last 10-12 years. This man (Samir Bhojwani) is an expert at land grabbing, forgery and fraudulent cases. He is doing these things because he has muscle power and money. He has big political connections, and therefore, no one is willing to take action against him.”

Saira Banu also stated that Bhojwani has violated BMC guidelines but they have not taken any action against him. 

“Earlier, he wanted to build a cottage for his sister in front of our residence. At that time, we gave him permission. After that, we went out of Mumbai for two-three months and when we returned, we saw that he had built a two-three storey building instead of a cottage, and while doing so he had violated BMC rules but no one has taken any kind of action against him.”

Stating that Dilip Kumar’s residence is a famous landmark in Bandra, Saira Banu said, “The entire world knows that this is Dilip Kumar saab’s residence so how can he trespass on that land? He knows that Dilip saab has health issues and because of all this stress his health has deteriorated even more.”

Saira Banu added that Dilip Kumar has an emotional attachment with his house. “It is his only house and we all are emotionally attached to it. Dilip saab’s younger sister and brother have grown up in this house.

“He hasn’t worked in 300 films that he can afford to invest in properties. In his entire film career, he has hardly been part of 56 good films. He is a man who has contributed a lot for his country through his art.” 

In December 2017, Saira Banu had lodged a police complaint alleging that Bhojwani was threatening and harassing her and Dilip Kumar over the property. Following the complaint, the Mumbai police had arrested Bhojwani.

 BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal on Wednesday slammed Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath for his claims that influx of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh migrants deprived state youth of employment opportunities and demanded that he be summoned to Parliament to apologise.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour in Lok Sabha, Jaiswal, who represents Paschim Champaran constituency of Bihar, said the newly elected Chief Minister should apologise, as he himself is from Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur city and yet made such a statement.

“Kamal Nath has tried to divide the country on the basis of region. The House must condemn it. He should be summoned to the Parliament and asked to apologise,” Jaiswal said.

Kamal Nath has been at the centre of a storm over his government’s decision that only those industries which employ 70 per cent local youth could avail incentives from the state.

“People from states like Bihar and UP come here and local people don’t get jobs…,” he had said at his first press conference as Chief Minister.

Following which he faced criticism left, right and centre.

Kamal Nath, who took oath as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh on December 17, is a nine time Member of Parliament from Chhindwara. He has not yet resigned from Lok Sabha.

Panaji, As Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar was in favour of buying Sukhoi SU-30MK1, which were cheaper and as good as French Rafale jets, then why did Prime Minister Narendra Modi strike an expensive deal for the latter aircraft, Goa Congress spokesperson Ramakant Khalap said on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference at the state Congress headquarters here, Khalap also said that the mystery of Rafale deal was embedded in a geographic triangle of Paris, Delhi and Goa, and said now that the ailing Chief Minister was on his feet, he should be answering queries related to the controversial deal.

“In Rajya Sabha in July 2015, he had said that the agreement for 126 aircraft is being withdrawn and negotiations for 36 aircraft will be started. Prior to that in February 2014, he had said that instead of Rafale, Sukhoi SU-30MK1 be purchased because they are as good as Rafale and cheaper than Rafale. This was the view expressed by Manohar Parrikar in his capacity as Defence Minister of India,” Khalap said.

“This is to Mr. Parrikar… Now that he is moving around, the press would be fully justified in asking for a personal meet-up with him. He can throw more light on the issue,” the former Union Minister of State for Law said.

Khalap, while accusing the Central government of lying to the Supreme Court of India, said that the key to the Rafale mystery lay in three geographical regions.

“So we have Delhi, we have Paris and we have Goa. A triangle, which perhaps holds the mystery of this Rafale aircraft. If no JPC (joint parliamentary committee) is formed (for probe into Rafale deal), the future of the present NDA will be written in perhaps French letters, in the French language,” Khalap said.